


Eight Dozen and Counting

by hiya_zelda (hiya_girlie)



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Tooth Rotting Fluff, link is a dork but zelda loves him, self indulgent, that’s a lotta cookies, they’re soft and in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:33:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27422770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiya_girlie/pseuds/hiya_zelda
Summary: Zelda comes home after work one day to find that Link got a little carried away baking...
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 64





	Eight Dozen and Counting

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY YOU’RE THE BEST AND I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS STUPID ONESHOT LOL

The house smelled delightful when Zelda stepped in. It wasn’t the pumpkin spice candle she’d started using since fall started, which caught her off guard. Instead it was the warm, sugary scent of fresh baked cookies. 

Her mouth watered. She’d forgotten her lunch at home on accident after waking up late and hadn’t eaten since that morning, a fact that had been noticeable as the day wore on. The irresistible smell of cookies was incredibly tempting, so when her stomach growled angrily, demanding immediate satisfaction, who was she to deny it?

She slipped out of her heels and put away her coat and scarf, then followed her nose to the kitchen. The kitchen was 10 degrees warmer than the rest of the house and a few beads of sweat collected on her forehead, but she paid them no mind, her focus solely occupied with her rumbling stomach.

The smell had been pleasant when she first walked into the house, but in the kitchen the smell overpowered her nose until she was fairly certain she’d never be able to smell regularly again. Combined with the heat, she felt suffocated and itched to open a window to breathe some fresh air. 

However, one look around the kitchen told her that the smell was the least of her worries.

Scattered around the various flat surfaces of the kitchen was an ungodly amount of cookie sheets. Four cookie sheets lay atop hot pads on the kitchen island, crowding the mixer, empty bowls, and dirty utensils in the middle of the island. Another pair of cookie sheets sat on the kitchen counters, and two more rested on the stovetop, tendrils of steam rising from the cookies’ chocolatey surfaces. All in all, she counted 8 total. 

Amidst the chaos of cookies, Link sat at the kitchen table, flipping through an old recipe book that had belonged to his grandma. He wore his black “Kiss the Cook” apron overtop of a green shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and she noticed his apron had two white, handprint shaped spots on the front. White powder also dusted his cheeks and the lenses of his glasses, and for whatever reason a few strands of his messy hair were white as well.

He glanced up when he heard her footsteps and flashed her a bright smile. “Hey, you’re home,” he said, standing up and hurrying over to her. “How was work?”

Zelda returned the smile, momentarily forgetting about the mess around them as he slipped his arms around her and held her tight, nestling his face in the crook of her neck. The warmth of his embrace was just what she needed after a long day. “It was fine,” she replied. His hair tickled her nose and she held in a sneeze. “How was yours?”

“A little busy,” he said with a light chuckle, pulling back to give her a quick kiss. His lips tasted like cookie dough, and he didn’t object when she leaned in for another kiss. “We helped a cat give birth, and afterwards made a house call to a ranch on the edge of town to do check ups on their new foals. They’ve got one with the most amazing black and brown spots across its muzzle, I wish I’d gotten some pictures.”

“Sounds much more exciting than paperwork,” she sighed. “I swear, my eyes were ready to fall out of my head halfway through the stack of documents I had to read.”

Link laughed, and she took the chance to drink in the way the skin around his eyes crinkled just so and how the dimples on his cheeks accentuated his wide smile. She could stare at him for hours and never get bored.

Zelda lost herself in his gaze for a moment before she remembered she was standing in the middle of a hurricane of cookie sheets. She ran her index finger over his nose, swiping off the flour to uncover the freckled skin underneath, and studied her finger. He followed her gaze somewhat guiltily.

“You’re a bit of a mess,” she said, wiping her finger off on his apron, “not to mention the kitchen is too. Any reason why there are eight dozen cookies out?”

He blushed and rubbed his neck, a nervous habit she found incredibly endearing. “Um, about that…”

She looked down at her torso and grimaced upon seeing two white spots on her purple dress shirt. “Hold that thought,” she interrupted. “I’m gonna go get changed.”

Zelda went to their bedroom and took her hair out of its updo, then swapped her dress shirt and slacks for a pair of black leggings and a lavender sweater that Link had made for her birthday. She’d have to remember to get that flour out of her shirt before she washed it.

Link was cleaning his glasses when she returned to the kitchen. He’d cleaned the flour off his face and out of his hair, and put away his apron.

“Alright,” she said, taking a seat at the island. “So why are there so many cookies?”

“Well,” he started, “while we were at the ranch helping with the foals, the owner’s partner was making cookies, and after we finished he offered some to us, and they were delicious, warm and gooey but with a little crunch and a pinch of cinnamon, seriously you would love them. I was so tempted to get the recipe, they were that good, but before I could ask we went back to the clinic.”

She hid a giggle behind her hand. His enthusiasm for baking was obvious from the way his eyes sparkled and the animated gestures he made while he spoke. He was always looking for new things to try, and even if they turned out terribly he didn’t lose his passion. 

She gestured for him to continue and he went on. “Anyway, I couldn’t stop thinking about them,” he said, his voice growing more sheepish, “and since we woke up late this morning and couldn’t make lunch, I was pretty hungry during the day, and thinking about the cookies only made me hungrier. So when I got home, I dug out the recipe book and looked for anything that might be similar to the cookies.” He held up the cookbook for emphasis. “The closest thing I could find was a cinnamon sugar cookie, but they didn’t have chocolate chips, so I’ve been experimenting with combining that recipe with the basic chocolate chip recipe.”

“So you’ve been playing mad scientist for two hours?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

He blushed again, glancing around at the cookie sheets across the room. From the way his eyes widened slightly, this was probably the first time he actually counted how many cookies he had made. She almost face palmed. “More or less. And I might have gotten carried away… oops.”

She snorted, shaking her head. “Yeah, I’d say 96 cookies is ‘carried away,’ alright. Were you planning on eating all of those yourself?”

“Honestly, I don’t know?” He said, gesturing vaguely with his hands. “I didn’t really stop to think about what I was doing, I was really focused on the cookies.”

“Well, we have to do something with them,” Zelda said. “And although I will eat some of them because I’m very hungry, we’re gonna have a lot of leftovers.”

Link nodded. “I’ll think of something,” he promised. “But in the meantime, I’ll get some real dinner started.”

He put his apron back on and started rifling through the fridge while she scrolled through her phone. As he started cutting up vegetables for fajitas, the oven timer went off and she looked up.

He pulled _another_ cookie sheet out of the oven, and the guilty look he gave her had her laughing for hours.

**Author's Note:**

> dumb brain: instead of your multichapter fic you haven’t updated in weeks, let’s work on this stupid fic you thought of at work!  
> me: but y tho  
> brain: you gotta
> 
> thanks for reading! go eat some cookies


End file.
